Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transport at North Yorkshire Council has launched a campaign with pleas to Chancellor Rachel Reeves to ‘do not scrap the cap’ – a campaign to retain the £2 fare cap on many bus routes.
Keir Starmer has also said that the cap will not go, but will rise from £2 to £3.
Previously tt was reported that the cap would be axed altogether, a move Keane Duncsan said would have “catastrophic consequences” for routes in North Yorkshire and that several routes, including the 840 from Whitby to Leeds (named Britain’s ‘most scenic’), are only running today because of an uplift in passengers generated by the cap.
Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transport at North Yorkshire Council, said:
Keir Starmer has given in, but only after pleas from rural communities like ours not to scrap the cap. It’s wrong that we have had to fight so hard to save an initiative that is particularly essential for bus services in communities like ours.
The small saving this will generate means the decisions feels like penny pinching from rural areas, when the major cities have seen billions invested in transport there.
And while the cap will continue, it will increase by 50%, another hit on working people. The additional cost for a typical worker commuting daily will be around £500.
There are also fears for the future of the cap after next year. We’re facing another increase or even the cap being scrapped altogether.
We’ve worked so hard to protect routes across North Yorkshire, with the £2 fare cap serving as a critical lifeline. We must continue to fight against decisions that could harm passenger numbers and once again put services in peril.
